Last week, after the Congressional Budget Office report showed that the pre-stimulus budget deficit would reach $1.2 trillion in FY 2009, President-elect Barack Obama reiterated his campaign promise to make Social Security and Medicare reform a “central part” of his efforts to control skyrocketing federal spending. Democrats on the Hill …
The news from Hawaii that the state is ending its experiment in universal health coverage for children may well be the timely warning that Washington needs to avert bankruptcy. Hawaii has learned what some have known all along–that the cost of free care is unaffordable. The AP reports: “People who …
Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are offering ambitious, comprehensive and expensive health care reform plans. Both would greatly expand health insurance coverage for millions of Americans. Examining the key elements of these two competing plans, one can discern clearly two very different visions of America’s health care future. …
This week’s debate over the Medicare bill (H.R. 6331) ranks as the biggest battle over health care policy since last year’s bitter debate over the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). President Bush, vowing to oppose any bill that would curtail the personal choices or benefit options …
There is good and bad in President Bush’s fiscal 2009 budget when it comes to Medicaid. First the good: The President’s budget proposal takes modest but meaningful steps to rein in spending on Medicaid. The President’s budget slows the annual rate of growth in Medicaid’s budget from 7.4 percent to …
